Textile apparatus



Sept. 18, 1934. w. POOL TEXTILE APPARATUS Filed May 13, 1932 Nib l is avoided.

Patented Sept. 18, 1934 TEXTILE APPARATUS William Pool, Spondon, near Derby, England, as-

signor to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application May 13, 1932, Serial No. 611,068 In Great Britain July 15, 1931 4 Claims.

This invention relates to looms, and is particularly concerned with looms in which the weft is supplied from a stationary supply at one or both sides of the loom.

5 The object of the invention is to provide an improved form of dummy shuttle for the insertion of weft in looms of this type in which ,the weft is presented to the dummy shuttle in measured lengths which have been drawn from the W supply, as for example in U. S. patent application S. No. 484,785 filed 27th September, 1930,

which describes weft-drawing means comprising trapping devices which move successively into positions in which weft trapped by one device can be engaged by another device in readiness for the formation of a weft loop.

According to the invention a dummy shuttle is provided with a prong or other projecting member adapted to engage a length of weft 5W drawn at the side of the loom, the prong being so disposed on the shuttle body that the bight of the weft loop formed by engagement of the prong with the weft length falls to the rear part of the shuttle during insertion. By the use of a dummy shuttle with a weft-engaging prong of this character, the free end of the weft loop cannot pass between the shuttle body and the reed, and thus chafing or breakage of the weft Forinsertion of weft from both sides of the loom, as is most convenient in practice, the dummy shuttle may be'provided with two such prongs or projecting members adapted to receive weft alternately, and each disposed so as to carry the bight of its weft loop to the rear part of the shuttle.

Presentation of the weft to the prongs is conveniently effected by means of a depresser member which presses the weft length between 40 the level of the prong and the shuttle body as the shuttle approaches the line of the weft. It is convenient to arrange that the two prongs have their points spaced some little distance apart, so that as the shuttle passes across the line of a weft length drawn at the side of the loom, presentation of the weft takes place to the rearmost prong between the two points. For this purpose the depresser is suitably timed to press the weft length as the space between the prongs passes under the line of the weft. It is possible, however, to arrange the foremost prong of the shuttle so that even though the weft is depressed by the depresser member while the foremost prong is passing the weft or even 5 before it reaches it the weft can slide unimpeded over that prong, and then be pressed into the space between the prongs so as to be engaged by the rearmost prong.

When the weft is drawn as a loop sufficient for two picks, the same depresser may be employed for each pick in turn, as by causing the second pick to be clear of the path of the depresser when it engages the first pick, and then moving the second pick under the depresser when it has to be presented to theshuttle.

The prongs are preferably arranged to lie parallel to the upper surface of the shuttle so that the weft can be pressed downwards into engagement with the prongs from the horizontal line into which it has been drawn at the side of the loom.

In order to avoidany possibility of the prongs engaging with the warps during the passage of the shuttle through the shed, the points of the prongs may be arranged in a groove in the upper surface of the shuttle, the weft being depressed into this groove for engagement by the prongs so as to lie wholly within the compass of the body of the shuttle. Though such an arrangement necessitates a depresser member to bring the weft into engagement with the prongs, instead of the prongs being allowed to project so as to'pass across the line of the weft as drawn at the side of the loom, it has the great advantage that the warps cannot be damaged by the prongs. After engagement, the bight of the weft loop is drawn to the base of the prongs situated, as stated above, near the rear of the shuttle, the prong passing towards its rear along. a slot in the side of the shuttle body so as to guide the weft to the base of the shuttle.

In order to prevent the yarn from coming into contact with the shuttle body when deflected into the path of the prong, the shuttle may be cut away or bevelled towards the back face.

After the weft has been drawn from the base of the shuttle body near the rear thereof it is laid on the lower sheet of warps in the shed and the shuttle body is preferably channelled, grooved, or recessed to avoid pressure on the weft, particularly if the weft consists of artificial silk yarn such as a yarn of cellulose acetate or other cellulose derivative or a reconstituted cellulose yarn such as viscose, cuprammonium or nitrocellulose silk, or of other smooth yarn such as natural silk. The weft is thus laid smoothly in the shed, and is properly tensioned by the shuttle, so as to form a good selvedge.

The prongs may be of any suitable material, e. g. wood, steel, or fibre, and are preferably formed separately from the shuttle body, care being observed that the form of attachment of the prongs to the body and the shape of the slots at the side of the shuttle into which each prong fits leave no crevices or projections in or against which the weft might catch.

The dummy shuttle described above may be used in looms provided with means as described in U.S. patent application S. No. 526,317 filed 30th March, 1931 for holding the weft taut during beat-up.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, but it is to be understood that this description is given by way of illustration only and is in no respect limitative.

Fig. 1 is an elevation and Fig. 2 a plan of a dummy shuttle, and

Figs. 3 and 4 are sections taken on the lines 3-3 and 44 of Fig. 1 respectively.

A shuttle body 5 is made of wood and is formed with a groove or channel 6 along the length of its upper surface. Near each end the body 5 is cut away on the front side as shown at 7 to accommodate a prong 8 whose point 9 faces towards the centre of the shuttle and lies within the groove 6, the whole prong 8 lying within the compass of the shuttle body 5. The base of the prong 8 is curved at 10 to connect to the prong a mantle piece 11 by which it is secured to the body 5.

As the shuttle is picked from a shuttle box weft is depressed to the lower point of the prong 8 facing the direction of the shuttle movement, and the weft is thus carried to the base of the prong where it runs round the curved portion 10 as it is carried into the shed and laid in the warps.

The base of the shuttle is channelled as shown at 12 and at the ends of the shuttle this channelling is extended through to the front edge of the shuttle. as shown at 13. so that as the weft passes from the curved base 10 of the prong 8 to the inside of the shuttle it can pass freely to the warps without any danger of being trapped. Further, the base of the prong, which for the time being is in operation is so near to the rear end of the shuttle that the weft cannot be carried between the shuttle and the reed, and so is in no danger of being trapped and severed.

All projections are avoided, and in order to avoid a crevice at the base of the prong in which weft might be engaged each prong is extended beyond its base as shown at 14 and there ens bedded in an upstanding portion 15 of the shuttle body.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. A dummy shuttle comprising, in combination, a shuttle body and a prong member adapted to engage a length of weft drawn at the side of a loom, the prong being attached to the shuttle by its end near one end of the shuttle body and extending longitudinally thereof away from the end of the shuttle body, the shuttle body being formed with a channel near the point of attachment of the prong, said chamiel passing from said point of attachment to the underside of the shuttle body to direct weft engaged by said prong to the underside of the end of the shuttle.

2. A dummy shuttle comprising, in combination, a shuttle body and two oppositely directed prong members each adapted to engage a length of weft drawn at the side of a loom, one prong being attached by one of its ends to the shuttle body near each end thereof and extending longitudinally thereof towards the opposite end of the shuttle body, the shuttle body being formed with channels near the points of attachment of the prongs, said channels passing from said points of attachment to the underside of the shuttle body to direct weft engaged by said prongs to the underside of the ends of the shuttle.

3. A dummy shuttle comprising, in combination, a shuttle body and a prong member adapted to engage a length of weft drawn at the side of a loom, the prong being attached to the shuttle body by its end remote from the centre of the shuttle, and the space between the prong and the shuttle body communicating at such point of attachment with the underside of the shuttle body, so that as the shuttle travels across the warps the bight of the weft engaged by the prong lies towards the rear end of the shuttle body, and the Weft is deposited from the shuttle at the rear end of the underside thereof and close to the warps, and the end portion of the underside of the shuttle body being recessed to prevent rubbing of the deposited weft between the shuttle and the warps.

4. A dummy shuttle according to claim 1 in which the shuttle body is grooved and th weftengaging prong is disposed in the groove so as to lie wholly within the compass of such body.

WILLIAM POOL. 

